The first women’s memorial march was held in 1991 in response to the murder of a Coast Salish woman on Powell Street in Vancouver. Her name is not spoken today out of respect for the wishes of her family. Out of this sense of hopelessness and anger came an annual march on Valentine’s Day to express compassion, community, and caring for all women in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside, Unceded Coast Salish Territories. Twenty one years later, the women’s memorial march continues to honour the lives of missing and murdered women.
On the evening of February 9, you are invited for an evening of song in honour of Rumana Monzur. Last summer, Rumana was attacked and blinded by her former husband, and since then she has been struggling with the challenges of her new life here in Vancouver. 'Songs unsung' commemorates all victims of violence against women, and honours Rumana's courage in the face of so much adversity.


